(0:00) Open

(0:37) The Lure of the Lie: Exploring Our Susceptibility to Falsehoods

(2:53) Quantifying Bullshit: Pseudo-Profound Bullshit

(6:28) Why Do People Still Believe in Falsehoods?

(29:55) Fighting The Untruth

(34:24) cj’s recommendation: ChatGPT Likes Me!

(35:40) Jeff’s Recommendation: Poker Face

Why do humans, with our big fancy brains, keep falling for obvious falsehoods? The short answer is because it’s comforting, convenient, and often way more fun than the truth.

Thinking critically is hard. Believing something that feels good or already fits your worldview is easy. Brains are efficiency machines - and unless you tell them otherwise, they’ll take the shortcut every time.

Plus, we are social creatures who desperately want to belong. If your group believes the moon landing was faked or that lizard people run the government, you’re more likely to nod along than risk exile from the brunch circle; especially if they sound confident, even if they’re making most of it up.

This episode the guys dig into what is so alluring about the lie by exploring our susceptibility to falsehoods. We all like stories, especially the ones that go down smoother than the bitter pill of reality, but as it turns out, facts, no matter how uncomfortable, are still the facts.

Would you rather hear “you need a balanced diet, regular exercise, and sleep” or “this one weird trick will melt belly fat in 3 days”? Exactly.

Ray Bradbury - Wikiwand

The psychology of pseudo-profound bullshit: Insights from 8 studies

People with lower cognitive ability more likely to fall for pseudo-profound bullshit

Pizzagate conspiracy theory - Wikiwand

Political Bullshit Receptivity and its Correlates: A Cross-Country Validation of the Concept

‘You can’t bullshit a bullshitter’ (or can you?): Bullshitting frequency predicts receptivity to various types of misleading information - Littrell - 2021 - British Journal of Social Psychology - Wiley Online Library

Sorry, a TIME Magazine Cover Did Not Predict a Coming Ice Age

Superstition in The Pigeon

Milgram experiment - Wikipedia

Alternative facts - Wikipedia

Send us a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠voice message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!